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The creators of DmC and Heavenly Sword have offered up a closer look at their new PS4 action game, and its surprisingly mature storyline.

When it was first teased last year Hellblade seemed to be a Celtic-flavoured hack ‘n’ slash. It is still that, but it seems the backstory of protagonist Senua is considerably more interesting than the norm.

It turns out the game has been developed in conjunction with the University of Cambridge’s Psychiatrist and Professor of Health and Neuroscience, Paul Fletcher, and in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust.

Although Senua has become traumatised following a Viking invasion of her homeland, which we imagine is not a problem for most people, the nature of her illness is portrayed as realistically as possible.

‘True understanding of mental health is not simply about books, lectures or verbal descriptions but from deeper engagement on all levels,’ says Prof. Fletcher.

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‘Working with Ninja Theory has shown me the potential that gaming has for sharing in a character’s experiences and engendering empathy in ways that go well beyond those offered by simple academic descriptions. Maybe this approach will contribute powerful new ways of challenging stigma.’

‘More and more, games have an exciting and innovative role to play in giving us new perspectives on health and mental health challenges,’ adds the Wellcome Trust’s Iain Dodgeon. ‘Rather than being a didactic game teaching us about psychosis, Hellblade allows us to explore it through the creation of a compelling and complex character, and the world that she inhabits.’

You can learn more in the dev diary video below, while the game itself will be released next year on PlayStation 4 and PC. It’s being self-published by Ninja Theory themselves, but we expect it’ll turn up at Sony’s E3 stand too.